Indie Author Weekly Update November 11, 2016

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for the Indie Author Weekly Update. I always enjoy bringing the best of the internet to you in hopes you’ll find nuggets of information to fuel your social media and book marketing efforts.

On a more personal note, I’ve been relishing the fall weather here in Northern California. We’ve been having 70-degree weather with warm days and cool nights. It couldn’t be better for the hiking and cycling I enjoy doing. I hope that you’re getting outdoors too.

Indie Author Updates

We’ll start with the posts I wrote for BookWorks and TheBookDesigner.com this week:

15 Tips to Boost Facebook Engagement for Indie Authors from BookWorks: “When you’re ready to approach book marketing, and you’re setting up your social media presence, the last thing you want to do is waste any of your time on platforms that your readers don’t use. For example, if you write crime noir that’s popular among the 40+ demographic, you wouldn’t want to waste your time on Snapchat or Tumblr. But, similar to Mark Dawson, a thriller author, you would want to spend time on Facebook.”

Can Social Media Really Sell Your Books? from TheBookDesigner.com: “Every indie author hears the message, “You have to use social media.” But is it true? Of course. Claro que si. Bien sûr. Na sicher. In any language, social media are often considered the kings of discoverability. (Yes, discoverability is now in the dictionary. And why the word queens isn’t used is a topic for another post.) But – and this is a huge but – does social media marketing sell books Hmm. Let’s consider this question.”

6 Social Media Content Categories To Delight Your Fans from Louise Myers: “Wondering why you need social media content categories? Here’s the deal: Most people don’t follow business pages to be sold to. Posting interesting content from a wide variety of categories, or “content buckets,” assures that you’ll delight your current fans, while attracting new ones!”

Book Publishers Need to Overcome the Fear of Free from Book Business: “Open the iBooks trending searches today and you’ll see that the majority of searches start with the word “Free.” This is a word well beloved by consumers and deeply feared by publishers, who understandably want to protect their authors and investments. Yet for consumers conditioned to expect free online content, any paywall can be viewed with antagonism. So the question is, how can publishers entice and convert these very value-conscious consumers?”

3 Book Marketing Success Stories from the Publishing Trenches from Book Business: “Every publisher represents a storehouse of interesting content that can be used to attract readers, capture email subscribers, and increase book sales. In past articles, I’ve written about these concepts and reasons why publishers should invest in inexpensive digital marketing tactics. Free content attracts readers who become email subscribers. Those email subscribers can be converted into customers as the publisher sends promotional email campaigns.”

Updating a Facebook Page by Elizabeth Craig: “I don’t spend the time on Facebook that I probably should (it’s never been my favorite platform). But I understand the importance of Facebook to my overall social media presence. I know it’s where my readers are and I hear from them regularly there. I want to make sure that I’m available on the platform so that I can easily connect with my readers.”